Help and advice with anxiety, stress and panic attacks

Exeter doesn't seem to be an especially stressful place
to live, but work, bullying, exams or the everyday pressures of life can
easily provoke anxiety. We all feel anxious occasionally, but it can feel
like it's out of control, constant and draining. Sometimes anxiety seems
to come out of nowhere; you suddenly have a panic attack but have no idea
why. Let's look at what causes over-anxiety and panic attacks and what
you can do about them. Knowing why stress, anxiety and panic attacks happen
can help you make sense of how you're feeling. More importantly, it'll
help you deal with them.

Your Bodymind

What happens in your mind effects your body and visa
versa: Your mind and body are actually one system - the bodymind. Ideally
the bodymind works as a unified system, but panic attacks and constant
anxiety are examples of what happens when mind and body miscommunicate.

Stress situations are part of life and evolution has
given us a way to cope. The stress response is a natural pattern of behaviour
that works especially well if you live like our ancestors did. Back then
there was a fair chance that you'd face a life threatening situation.
A bear emerges out of the woods, a rival tribe attack your village or
you fall in the river while fishing. It that ever happens to you, your
stress response could be a life saver! Your whole bodymind goes on alert;
your blood floods with adrenaline, your heart races and your mind narrows
down to focus completely on the threat. Great if you're in a fight or
flight situation: you'll have a chance to out run that bear, fight off
your rival or swim to the safely of the shore.

Feeling Threatened

But what happens if you feel threatened by meeting your
boss, giving a public talk or taking an exam? You can't fight or run away,
but your stress response will kick in all the same. Your heart will start
to beat faster and suddenly the perceived threat is all you can think
about. The first thing to remember is that this is a natural response;
your body is doing what seems to be the best thing. More importantly,
some part of your mind - your thinking self - has misjudged the situation.

Let's say for example you're going to give a public
talk next week. How would that feel? Public speaking has been described
as 'a fate worse than death' by some and in the past I've become extremely
anxious about it myself. My mind had got the belief from somewhere that
public speaking was a highly threatening activity. In reality it's not
of course; you're very unlikely to get killed or injured as a result of
giving a speech! But if you're convinced that it is dangerous, you'll
trigger your stress response. The thinking mind misinforms the stress
system: "Warning! Public speaking is really threatening!" Of course the
stress response kicks in. And now the trouble really starts: The mind
takes note of all the stress reactions and takes that as confirmation;
"Public speaking is really threatening!" That starts a cycle of anxiety
that can be hard to break.

But the mind is misleading itself, because it mistakenly triggered the
stress reaction in the first place. It's like someone who accidentally
sets off the fire alarm and then, hearing the alarm, thinks there really
is a fire.

Haunted By The Past

If a distressing situation in your past is very similar
to one that's happening now, you might expect a stress reaction. Suppose
you were attacked by a dog as a child. It wouldn't be surprising if you
got anxious when meeting a dog as an adult. But how does the thinking
mind come to believe something that's actually quite safe is a real threat?
This is where it gets interesting, because what I'm calling the thinking
mind has a hidden side: the unconscious. Consciously you may not know
why something is threatening to you, because the thinking mind is a tiny
part of a much bigger system and your fear is hidden somewhere outside
your awareness.

The unconscious is not rational; it works in symbols,
metaphors and associations. A traumatic event in the past can become strongly
associated with quite different situations though symbolism. So something
apparently unconnected to the original trauma can trigger a stress reaction
now. The very common fear of public speaking I mentioned above is probably
a form of this type of reaction. Perhaps I had the experience of being
ridiculed in a group as a kid and the thought of doing a public speech
was still associated with that experience.

There is a third possibility. Sometimes we can get
confused about the cause of a stress reaction because our conscious mind
is in denial. Several years ago there were aspects of my life that were
pretty stressful. There were things I really didn't want to deal with
or even think about. I started to worry about quite minor things. Did
I leave the gas cooker on? Did I lock the front door properly? I didn't
want to think about the real cause of my anxiety, but that didn't make
it go away. The anxious feelings had to be expressed, so they bubbled
out wherever they could, hidden in trivial worries.

Help

Knowing the causes of over-anxiety and panic attacks
helps you to get rid of them. Your doctor can prescribe medication that
can help, but integrative therapy can deal with the root of the problem.
I tackled my anxiety issues with a mix of psychotherapy, CBT,
mindfulness, breathing techniques and Focusing. I now draw on all of these in my practice.

Psychotherapy is especially useful if there's some unconscious knot
that needs unravelling.

Mindfulness is a great way
to get your mind and body back in harmony - and keep it that way!

Focusing is a special way of being mindful,
and offers another very valuable path to the wisdom of the body.

Finally, I'd like to share the most useful breathing technique I know: It's quick, simple and effective.

Contact me if you'd like more help with stress, anxiety or panic attacks.